SpaceWatch Global
• Torsten Kriening
Planet co-founder Robbie Schingler discusses the company’s new Berlin satellite factory, its first manufacturing site outside California, and the strategic vision behind planetary intelligence. He also outlines Planet’s ambitions for large Earth models built from satellite data.
Commercial Space
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Vast, the space infrastructure company, is establishing a Lunar Programs division to support NASA’s ambitions for a Moon Base. The move gives the company a dedicated organizational focus for lunar activities, though the announcement provides no further details on scope, schedule or specific programs.
Outpost plans to make its Space Factory platform the first dedicated user of the company’s in-space manufacturing service. The platform is expected to produce StarFiber, a next-generation metal fluoride optical fiber, during a mission targeted for no earlier than 2028.
Astrolab and Interstellar Mapping are partnering to identify and map water resources on the Moon. The collaboration highlights growing commercial efforts to characterize lunar resources, information that could support future exploration and surface operations.
High activity
Planet co-founder Robbie Schingler discusses the company’s new Berlin satellite factory, its first manufacturing site outside California, and the strategic vision behind planetary intelligence. He also outlines Planet’s ambitions for large Earth models built from satellite data.
Space Epoch has secured $343 million in new funding as the Chinese launch startup targets the end of the year for the debut of its Yuanxingzhe-1 rocket. The financing underscores continued investment in China’s commercial launch sector and its push to expand domestic space transportation capacity.
Amazon Leo will enter Uzbekistan through an agreement with UZ-SAT to provide internet connectivity to underserved areas. The partnership marks the satellite internet provider’s expansion into the Uzbek market and could extend broadband availability beyond the reach of existing terrestrial infrastructure.
Luxembourg-based ClearSpace will help the European Space Agency mature technologies for Phoenix, an in-orbit servicing mission designed to extend the operating life of a geostationary satellite otherwise due to retire between 2028 and 2030. The contract marks a development step for commercial satellite servicing capabilities.
China launched 13 satellites over the weekend across two missions, including commercial radar spacecraft and a nine-satellite rideshare carrying on-orbit computing and communications testbeds. The launches underscore the country’s expanding cadence across both commercial satellite services and in-space technology demonstrations.
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